China’s Premier Li Keqiang said on Friday it was not an easy thing to achieve a gross domestic product (GDP) growth goal of around 5.5% in 2022 for an economy as big as China’s.
Premier Li met the press on Friday morning after the closing of the fifth session of the 13th National People’s Congress. He admitted renewed downward risks and challenges facing the economy, which requires larger policy support this year from authorities, including more tax and fee cuts for businesses.
The second-largest economy has targeted a slower economic growth of around 5.5% this year as the headwinds including an uncertainties over global recovery and a downturn in the country’s vast property sector cast a pall over the economic landscape.
“China still has many problems to solve such as climate change, income disparity and debt, and all these issues needs be forcefully dealt with over the medium and long term, including this year,” Li said.
“Macroeconomic policies this year are being rolled out not only to cope with short-term pressures, but also to achieve the sustainability of China’s economy,” he stressed.
“Through stepped-up fiscal and monetary policies, China would like to create over 13 million new urban jobs this year,” he said.
Li also stressed that the Chinese government will also ramp up tax rebates if current ones yield good results.
The GDP goal was set amid a wide range of global challenges that, along with the COVID-19 pandemic, create uncertainty for the global economy. Some economists have commented that the GDP target for this year is a sign of strength, as opposed to weakness, and demonstrates the resilience of China and its ability to confront headwinds and continue national development unabated.
To recap, China had recovered substantially and attained GDP growth of 8.1 percent in 2021, prompting national planners and economists to forecast this year’s lower goal as growth returns to its normal trajectory.
